$7.7 Million Put Tiny, Tiny Dent In Total Debt Load

According to Treasury.gov (link below), people donated $7.7 million ($7,749,618.27 to be exact) to the Bureau of the Public Debt last fiscal year (2012) to help pay down the country's $16 trillion plus debt.

In case you didn't know, the US government will graciously accept gifts to help pay down the country's debt. If you are so inclined, you can donate money, outstanding government obligations (these will be retired with the redemption proceeds being used to reduce the debt) or "intangible personal property" to help reduce the public debt. Heck, the government even offers credit card payment (seriously) as an option if you are feeling like you want to pay off some of the nation's debt.

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The Treasury Department has been publishing "gift contribution" data since 1996. It may or may not surprise you to learn that the $7.7 million that was donated during the 2012 fiscal year was an all-time record - by far.

Let's look at the breakdown of "gift contributions" from 1996 until 2012:

Now, given that the United States currently has a debt load of over $16 trillion, $7.7 million is not going to go very far. The US government is expected to post a deficit of nearly $1 trillion in the 2013 fiscal year - that follows a string of four straight years with deficits of at least $1 trillion.

That $7.7 million that was donated last fiscal year by well-intentioned Americans? It was evaporated in, quite literally, just a couple of minutes.